* Posts by diodesign

3496 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Sep 2011

Moderation gone mad?

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: I ain't Spartacus

"I'd be interested if you had an update on this article"

I'm not sure there's much more to add, honestly. As much as I love a media conspiracy theory, sadly there's no great collusion here. An article, one of the hundreds we publish a month, riled some readers. It happens.

"Item 2 was some sort of 'anti-radiation' cover for a mobile phone ... If you'd taken the piss out of it, you might have got away with it. "

Er, we did: we wrote 'Weird science? Snake oil modelling? Take your pick as it’s going to be hard for a user to determine...'

"The 'stocking-filler' bit was badly judged"

I'm assured it was tongue-in-cheek. I certainly read it that way after publication.

"Keep up the good work."

Thanks.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: nichomach

"integrity, we've heard of it"

Haha. You're thinking of this Reg classic? Seriously, though, all changes were made to the article before the Xmas break; I can't offer any info until after the hols.

Merry Christmas,

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: nichomach

Rather than jump to conclusions, I'd rather wait to find out why. There's probably a good reason.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: nichomach

"what an egregiously worthless piece of crap it was"

Wow, it's surprising how much anger a product round-up can spark.

The article is a Reg Hardware piece, and those boys are off for the Xmas break so I can't walk over to them and ask what happened.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

"I've just seen a thread closed"

Which thread was that? Threads are closed automatically after a period of several days or manually for legal reasons.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Moderation gone mad?

"Can I ask what happened and if it was really intentional?"

A shedload of comments were legally unsafe and removed at the earliest opportunity. It's as simple as that. I should have posted a comment about it, admittedly.

Merry Christmas,

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Sir James Dyson slams gov's 'obsession' with Silicon Roundabout

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Nokia chief Elop: 'Android? Hey, anything's possible!'

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: Untranslating the translation

"Nokia's transcript of the interview"

For balance: Nokia has allegedly issued its own version of the interview to WP-friendly sites after publication, which is now doing the rounds. We'll await further contact from the phone maker.

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CES?

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: CES?

"I think maybe the Microsoft/iPad story I thought was old news"

The iPad story emerged over the weekend. Like quite a few people, we quite rightly thought it was another web hoax so it took a working day to confirm.

"so didn't scroll down past there"

Tut tut :)

"Still a little thin on the ground"

CES hasn't actually opened yet.

"the new range of LG fridge freezers ... you are going to cover those aren't you?"

Uh *looks off stage for a clue*

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: CES?

Yes, we have a reporter there and also Tony is covering bits and pieces from the UK.

We've written about big TVs, the Nvidia monster handheld and the bendy screens, off the top of my head; if anything else cool happens, no doubt we'll be on it.

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US court ungags Yelp reviewer who dissed builder

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

"Libel doesn't cover statements of opinion. So going on Yelp and posting "Builder ABC is shite" wouldn't be covered under libel"

In the UK you can be sued for defamation for an opinion if it is not completely backed by fact: for the fair comment defence to work, you need to have prove there is truth to support your view. So describing a builder as shoddy, incompetent, lazy, etc is unsafe unless you have hard evidence.

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'SHUT THE F**K UP!' The moment Linus Torvalds ruined a dev's year

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Is this the whole story?

See Linus' email for the full technical reasons why: the ioctl was returning a code invalid for the operaton requested. Any app that properly checked its syscall error codes would be confused. The error code returned to pulseaudio was specific to paths, wheas ioctls operate on open files.

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Google wriggles out of FTC search smackdown. Now to Europe!

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Mr Shitpeas, if that is indeed your real name

Very first line of the FTC's announcement of the ruling: "Google Agrees to Change Its Business Practices to Resolve FTC Competition Concerns [...] in Online Search"

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Anti-virus products are rubbish, says Imperva

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Excellent criticism of Imperva's so-called study

Although, TBF, we've taken Imperva's study with a pinch of salt and reported it as mere claims.

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Newborn planets spotted slurping up gas from young parent star

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

"Surely some mistake"

Yes; the article was fixed as soon as we realised.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: Old news

"Never again will I ever take anything in the Register at face value"

Everyone makes mistakes - software has bugs, articles have miscalculations. The article was fixed as soon as we realised.

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Tiny Brit island stranded after £10m undersea fibre plea sunk

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: article totally misses the point

"I really don't want to be pedantic but this is just odd."

OK: apologies if it's not clear (that'll be my fault) but the movethecable.org people *contacted* the FCO to ask the dept to consider following the ITU resolution on connecting up islands. The FCO fired back the response we published: the office won't help, it wouldn't have to help and in terms of cash, it definitely isn't helping. If that's not a plea sunk, then I'm at a loss.

As for the DfID route, we've added a bootnote to say that all is not necessarily lost - there may be funding forthcoming; in fact, anyone with a spare 10m quid could chip in. But the FCO route - which the cable campaigners turned to for help - is closed. Sunk. Snubbed.

Sorry to put it in such terms when we can see people really do want the link put in and are fighting the good fight.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: article totally misses the point

Sure. So we're back to saying the ITU treaty couldn't have helped if it was signed or not.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: article totally misses the point

"ITU resolutions are non-binding by definition"

Is there now some confusion here over ITU *resolutions* and ITU *regulations* (which were binding) http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/default.aspx ?

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: article totally misses the point

"So the plea has not sunk at all."

Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated. Regarding the sinking, that's in reference to any hopes that the ITU treaty could have led to the UK government being obliged to provide the link to the undersea stub. And even if the UK signed the treaty it couldn't be forced to fit the cabling anyway.

As for the funding, although the St Helena campaigners say DfID is still assessing the situation, FCO minister Henry Bellingham said in March that: "The provision of telecommunications within the Overseas Territories is an area of devolved responsibility. On St Helena, it is the responsibility of the St Helena Government."

Yes, we pump cash into the island. Exactly who will pick up the tab for the cable is unclear at the moment.

If it helps, I'll add a link to this effect to the article.

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No ElReg article on "Flag Day"?

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: No ElReg article on "Flag Day"?

Ask and ye shall receive. We were aware of it, though, you'll be pleased to know.

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UK games market clutches chest, bleeds out sales in 2012

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

"Pretty sure you mean billion"

Yes. Whoops! That typo has been fixed.

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What's THAT, you say? Apple MIGHT be making a NEW iPHONE, iOS?

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: Really?

"The sarcasm wasn't subtle but then neither was the irony"

Tough crowd.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: Really?

"what you are reporting on isn't actually news"

Apologies if the sarcasm was too subtle, but the point of Bill's story and the headline is that the web screaming that "Apple is making another iPhone" is akin to "Disney is making another movie".

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The amazing magical LED: Has it really been fifty years already?

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Semiconductor diodes always confuse people

Whoops. The article's Semiconductor Physics 101 has been tweaked. Thanks for the feedback.

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From post-coital squid to high-res Playboy bunnies: The 2012 'IT angle?!' quiz

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Well Obviously...

"I'm not surprised this site is going down the Tubes."

Just to be clear: did you mean the Central line or the Northern line?

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The 'Digital Economy' in 2012: A big noisy hole where money should be

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

"What have you got against Google, Andrew?"

Every writer gravitates towards particular areas of tech to cover. Google is on Andrew's beat, so to speak, along with other corps and things.

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Apple supremo Tim Cook's pay packet slashed 99% in 2012

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Shark. Jumped.

Thanks for all the feedback. I usually copy-edit articles prior to publication, so it's nice to see what people think of my raw typings.

"Seriously? How old is this writer? Six?"

I'm seven and three quarters! Haha, just kidding. I'm 30.

"aimed at people with an IQ above that of a cabbage"

Actually, it's more that we appreciate that our readers' time is limited (you may be grabbing a look at the site during a lunch break) so we keep things punchy, entertaining but dead-on accurate. If you didn't like the headline and intro, the facts are all there in the next few pars. We don't lie to readers, we try always to fly true, but we're biting the hand that feeds IT.

"I can code in Z80 and 680x0"

I can do 6502, 8051, ARM and x86. Is.. is that still cool?

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It must be the end of the world... El Reg man thanks commentards

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Snowy banner?

"El. Reg staff have all buggered off"

We are out of the door and up and away. We'll be keeping an eye on proceedings over the week, but apologies in advance if there's a comment moderation queue backlog.

As for the top banner: whoops! I can only assume the snowfall this season has been so poor our art department has not been moved to set it up.

Anyhow, merry Christmas everyone. Thanks so much for the comments + love.

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Wikipedia doesn't need your money - so why does it keep pestering you?

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Hate trip.

"We are the source of knowledge, the punters are clueless."

Hi Jim. I fear you've completely missed the point of the article. It's not about the accuracy of WP this time.

If The Reg asked readers for donations while making a tidy profit on advertising, then I'd expect some similar sharp poking as well. I can tell you're a fan of WP but I'm afraid that won't stop us being critical of the site.

Merry Christmas all the same.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: "A so called 'online' magazine"

"but not by the beak IIRC"

Close enough.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

"A so called 'online' magazine"

Pah! Described as a highly respected online magazine in the High Court, I think you'll find.

Merry Christmas,

C.

PGP, TrueCrypt-encrypted files CRACKED by £300 tool

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: So, this tool is not for cracking but for sniffing

But once successfully sniffed, you can crack on.

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Windows Firefox stiffs Adobe Flash, plays H.264 YouTube vids

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: h.264

It appears not; some wires were crossed. The wording's been rejigged.

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Kim Dotcom flashes his rack

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Mansion?

That line has been tidied up.

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VCDX: The elite certification just 105 people hold

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Apologies; the article was revised soon after publication to iron out any remaining typos.

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What did Capita ITS staff get for Xmas? Elf 'n' safety training

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: What???

No, the fault lies at our end. Apologies.

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Stephen Hawking pushes for posthumous pardon for Alan Turing

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: I've said it before and I'll say it again....

Indeed, more or less. See page 3 of this PDF for a chart of how long you have to wait until your conviction is "spent". If you're jailed for more than 30 months, it's never spent. This also affects libel cases in terms of dredging up spent convictions.

If you work with children, law enforcement and other sensitive roles, your convictions aren't spent - you must disclose them.

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Samsung mobes pwned by ANY APP, thanks to chip code hole

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Headline is flawed

We like to keep things lively and punchy, and sometimes headlines need to keep things simple to work. But I've tweaked it anyway.

I'd like to think the article quickly explains the location of the flaw, eradicating any doubt.

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Dutch script kiddie pwns 20,000 Twitter profiles

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Pown?

Perhaps you would have preferred "joyride" to "hijack", then? Thanks anyway for the feedback. We'll have to agree to disagree.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Definition of hijacking is to take over something and use it for a different purpose. The victims expected it to do one thing, it did another. If that's not hijacking them I'm a banana.

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Shiny new UK.gov stats website a 'disaster' - MPs

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: gov.uk or ons.gov.uk???

Yes, it's about ons.gov.uk.

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iPhone 5 launches in China, late and expensive. Chinese say 'meh'

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

"have a merry Xmas Mr/Ms moderator"

Bah humbug.

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Next IPCC climate assessment due 2014 now everywhere online

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

No, he's busy being editor.

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Big Data storage of the future: Fat spinning tubs smothered in NVRAM gravy

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Feel free to take this discussion to the forum! I've closed this thread so we don't end up forking the comments.

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FCC: Kids, here's 100MHz of radio spectrum - but you have to share

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

It is fixed...

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Sleepy North Yorkshire village is first to get gov-subsidised BT fibre

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Ah, I had a feeling it was the sub-head. Be assured it's all tongue in cheek; we try to be snarky about everybody. One day it'll be something that's a little too close to home, but we can't please everyone all of the time.

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diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

What gave you that impression?

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Wait, what's that rumble in the storage jungle? Yes, it's Ceph

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Eh?

Thanks for the feedback. This isn't straight news as such, it's Matt's regular Open and Shut column, which is his opinion on what's going on in the open-source and startup worlds.

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Revealed: The Brit-built GRAVITY-powered light that costs $5

diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

Re: Re: Nice idea but sack the sub-editor

Fine, point taken. I'll just take my P45.

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